About Sam Herrera

For pastors and church leaders, the topic of growth and advancement is one often visited within their church. They are always looking for new ways to reach not only their current congregation but ways to reach potential members as well. Society has become entirely dependent on technology and its ever-changing advances.

There are some key ways that you can use technology within your church to reach people in various ways.

Growth

You can use social media and websites to introduce your church to the community. Society relies heavily on the use of social media to keep them informed of events, news and the overall local area. Making good use of this avenue can undoubtedly draw visitors to your church.

The Overall Guest Experience

Studies have shown that it takes a total of 7 minutes for guests to form an opinion about your church after they enter the campus. You can place your website, social media pages, email and other points of contact all around your church. This will open the door for people to know of ways to contact your facility. One church embracing new audio-visual tech in a big way is Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, utilizing large-screen presentations and interactive media in their services, coupled with a strong social presence.

Volunteer Sign Up

Technology can be a great resource when it comes to coordinating your volunteers. It will be a much easier way to reach people and coordinate volunteer signs ups. You can also use it as a way to reach out to people that might potentially be interested in signing up to be a volunteer.

Tracking

Technology can be an excellent way to track attendance of your regular members and visitors as well. You can use a database to store information about first-time visitors so that you can contact them about coming back again.

Enhance Your Service

You can use advanced technology as an integral part of your service. This can include music worship as well as your sermon. It will enhance the overall worship experience for members and guests alike. Technology can also be beneficial when it comes to working with youth members. It is sure to grab their interest and draw them in. You will find that technology will enhance your service when it comes to helping people retain your message as well.

While technological advancements are fantastic and can be of an added benefit to your church, it is essential that you do not let them take the place of good old fashioned conversation. You will find that the older generation is not exactly keen on keeping up with the newest trends in technology and would prefer the old way they are used to. You have to find the happy medium and what works best for your congregation. In any situation, what works best for some may in fact not work at all for others. Take your time in introducing new things to your members and give them time to adjust to it. Before you know it, your church will be growing by leaps and bounds and your building will be full. Whichever avenue you choose to take, the potential to thrive is undoubtedly there.

If you’ve been wondering if your old hardwired keyboard is still as great as you remember, let me break the news to you: it’s time to dump that old dog and upgrade! Yeah, yeah you feel that your gaming skills might suffer if you switch rigs, or maybe you’re concerned about making millions of typos on an new unfamiliar key face. Fret not. Wireless is where it’s at, and the new keyboards out now are much better than those of just a couple of years ago, so if you haven’t tried one in a while, get yourself out to a showroom and do some clicking to find the right one for you.

In the meantime we’re going to help save you some time by reviewing several new wireless keyboard models below.

There are a couple of basics you want to look for in the top wireless keyboards, of course, and below we highlight some of the features you want to make sure your new keyboard has before we get into the specific models themselves.

Connectivity

You now have plenty of options when it comes to connecting your new wireless keyboard to your computer or your device.

Standard plugin/USB connections and dongle options are still quite popular, but more and more wireless keyboards take advantage of the latest Bluetooth technology for lightning quick, stable and secure connections.

Layout and ergonomics

Obviously, the QWERTY keyboard remains the most popular option for those looking for a new wireless keyboard, but there are other variations available as well that you might want to look into – particularly if you need to optimize your typing or speed up your words-per-minute count, for example.

You also need to decide whether or not you want a full-sized keyboard with the 10 key numeric pad, a miniaturized keyboard that omits this pad, or a super compact keyboard that crams all of the keys together – and keeps the travel as close to the surface of the keyboard as possible – for on-the-go capabilities.

Thinking about a mechanical keyboard option?

Mechanical keyboards are game changing solutions when it comes to truly top-tier keyboards, and while for the most part these kinds of keyboards only come in a wired configuration there are a few news ones taking advantage of mechanical switches to provide a better feel, a better sound, and more improved tactile feedback (particularly important for those that do a considerable amount of typing).

Need a gaming keyboard?

If you are going to be getting your hands on a wireless gaming keyboard, lag is absolutely everything and you need to make sure that the speed of the connection between your keyboard and your computer or device is just as fast as humanly possible.

Any delay between your device and your commands is going to cost you big time when you are gaming in fast-paced titles like many of the best FPS options out there right now, though you might be able to get away with a slightly slower connection if you’re only playing more casual games that don’t require fast twitch responses.

Highlights of the best wireless keyboards available now

Iogear Quietus RF Desktop Keyboard

Easily the quietest of all the wireless keyboards out there, this feature-rich wireless configuration is going to provide you with a full-sized keyboard (complete with 10 digit number pad) as well as 12 customizable hotkeys, track and volume management, sleep mode, and a whole host of other killer features that make it one of the very best wireless keyboards money can buy.

It also uses a single AAA battery that is rated to last a whole year before it has to be replaced.

Microsoft Wireless 900 Desktop Keyboard

Another really solid wireless keyboard from the folks at Microsoft, this particular option isn’t quite as feature-rich as the keyboard that we highlighted above – it only has eight programmable keys versus 12 – but a lot of people find that the key travel and ergonomics of this wireless keyboard make it one of the very best options money can buy today.

Logitech K780 Multi-Device Wireless Keyboard

One of the coolest things about this Logitech keyboard is that it can be preconfigured to work with numerous different devices, all by triggering a series of hotkeys on the keyboard itself to determine which device it is currently paired with. It also uses the latest version of Bluetooth technology to connect, allowing you to use it dongle free with Bluetooth enabled devices with lightning fast speed and impressive responsiveness.

Logitech MK850 Performance Keyboard

Perhaps the best of the wireless options out there as far as dedicated to gaming keyboards are concerned, the lag time is ridiculously low on this keyboard, the connectivity is rock solid and stable with the fastest Bluetooth connection locking things down, and the programmability of this keyboard allows you to set up your own macros or your own commands so that you can hit a single keystroke to trigger specific activities in any game.

While the overwhelming majority of people out there familiar with the MP3 audio file format – it’s been the “gold standard” for digital audio players, iPods, smart phones, and more seemingly forever – the truth of the matter is there are literally dozens of other audio formats out there that may or may not be better suited to your specific listening style, depending upon how serious you are about audio quality and sound fidelity.

Just like some people are serious about listening to all of their favorite music on vinyl and and vinyl alone, never even considering to pop in a CD or listen to a digital download, some serious music junkies are only going to listen to music that is “packaged” in a handful of file formats – usually AAC or FLAC.

Determining which file format you want to have in your own library is never simple or straightforward. MP3 might work for the sake of convenience (and to help you save quite a bit of space on your hard drive and your mobile phone or device), but it isn’t going to be able to provide you with the true fidelity that you might be expecting due to inherent compression. If you have multiple formats and want to unify them see this post on how to convert various formats in iTunes.

Here are a couple of audio format alternatives you may want to check out:

WAV and AIFF

Both of these file formats are “uncompressed formats”, which means they are identical in every way to the original source audio. Both basically store file information the exact same way, providing for an precise replica of the original digital recording, though they do so in slightly different manners. AIFF is a proprietary file format created by the folks at Apple, whereas WAV is a more “open source” approach to this kind of uncompressed file format.

While they provide you with the same kind of audio quality that the original source audio presents, they are also gigantic file types that will eat up a lot of storage space. If you aren’t editing the source on your computer, these formats may be more cumbersome especially when we’re talking about a large library of music, podcasts or movies.

FLAC

The Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC) is far and away the most popular and widespread of all the “lossless” audio file formats, and offers just a bit of compression without crippling the actual audio fidelity of the files themselves. This is after all, a lossless audio file format, which means you are going to get the same quality as the original source but without the gargantuan space commitments you need from the file formats mentioned above.

Apple Lossless

Sometimes described as ALAC, this file format is very similar to the FLAC but isn’t open source the way that that file format is. In the spirit of stuff created by Apple, the quality is fantastic. ALAC minimizes compression to a fraction of what others produce but it isn’t quite as efficient as the open source version. Completely supported by iTunes and iOS devices, it’s a lot easier to use in a “drag and drop” kind of way compared to FLAC, and if you only use devices in the Apple landscape and Apple environment this is probably the way that you are going to want to go.

So are you convinced to venture out beyond MP3 now? If you’re using any other formats and find them superior to these mentioned please drop a note in the comments!

There is no doubt that in a new era where just about everyone is immersed in technology is changing the way humans operate. On a very basic level, it’s important to understand that human beings were never programmed with the intention of engaging with entirely artificial and digital worlds. But given the complexity and advanced intelligence we as human beings possess, it’s a testament to our ability to adapt and utilize new technologies and stimuli to our advantage.

This is why when we look at the modern world, so many people question whether or not technology is reducing or adding stress to people’s lives. As the University of Gothenburg proved in four separate studies recently, there is no doubt that new technologies, both those on and off the internet, are contributing to increased levels of stress. And while sure, there are certain applications that can ease our day-to-day life, overall, the expansion of this technology has opened so many new doors that otherwise present human beings with the psychological exposure that otherwise wouldn’t have been seen in previous eras when this technology didn’t even exist to begin with.

The Modernization of Isolation

Undoubtedly, one of the most depressing (literally) aspects of technology is its tendency to force human beings into isolation. And while human beings are willingly accepting this isolation, there is no doubt that by proxy, you cannot operate or utilize a lot of this technology without willingly putting yourself into those situations. For example, in order to play a single player online role-playing game, one must be alone to do so. So while it is a free choice to buy, download, and play the game, the user cannot change the way the game is played. The user has no other option than to play a game that forces them to dedicate a considerable amount of their time and energy into upgrading and improving a fake avatar rather than interacting and facing reality. And just the same, although social media applications feign the interaction with fellow human beings, it is being conducted in an artificial way. There is a screen between the two parties, versus a face-to-face interaction, which itself has become more stress for many people as younger children and adults struggle to communicate as adeptly as past generations.

As social creatures this means that we are naturally prone to becoming depressed and stressed out, and for many people, they don’t realize that the progenitor of their stress is their usage of this technology rather than going out for a walk or breathing fresh air. But sure, there are fair arguments to be made that in certain cases we now have increased ability to reduce stress thanks to modern technology. We can order items online rather than having to go out and purchase them, a mother can check on her daughter as she goes out to the movies thanks to her smartphone’s tracking app, and a myriad of other benefits these technologies can provide. I myself am a huge fan of both yoga apps and meditation mp3s to reduce stress. But overall, as human beings continue to interact with new technologies, the growing pains and consequences of enjoying and using them will continue to rear their ugly heads from time to time. The more you employ tech in your daily life, the more mindful you need to be about creating a stress-alleviating counterbalance to it.